Seversky Pipe Plant (STZ), a member of Pipe Metallurgical Company (TMK), is switching to digital telephone communication, the company’s press service reports. The company’s automatic telephone system in the plant administration area that ensures communication inside the plant and in the central districts of the northern part of Severka has already gone 100% digital. The new commutation equipment with the capacity of 6,000 telephone numbers has been launched. This equipment is much more compact than its older counterpart, it is more energy efficient, produces less heat, and is less sensitive

The Russian retail company Magnet is considering the purchase of 24 large-scale supermarkets of Monetka, the Ural brand; the supermarkets come up to 5,500 sq m on average. These stores might costs up to $70m, Kommersant says. ‘Magnet is interested in buying twenty-four supermarkets that belong to one of the largest provincial companies, the Urals-based Monetka, a source on the market told the newspaper. Monetka’s primary proprietor Roman Zabolotnov confirmed that negotiations were in progress, but ‘no decisions have been made yet.’ Magnet’s co-owner Sergey Galitsky says he is ‘interested in

Sverdlovsk Region is one of the Russian regions with the highest amount of loans offered to customers. These data are available from the report on loans issued to private individuals as of July 1, 2012 that is available on the Central Bank’s website, SKB-Bank’s press officer reports. The greatest number of loans was issued in or near the capital: Moscow (501bn RUR worth of loans), Moscow Region (212bn RUR), and Saint Petersburg (151bn RUR). Sverdlovsk Region is confidently in the fourth place: as of July 1, the local residents have borrowed a total of 109.3bn RUR from banks. Other regions

In the first half of the year, 57 people were killed and 153 people were injured at Sverdlovsk Region-based enterprises, plus twenty group accidents at work were registered, Deputy Minister for Industry & Science of Sverdlovsk Region Valery Turlayev said in the course of a seminar on Production Safety in Nizhniy Tagil on August 23. ‘The unsatisfactory organization of the production jobs is still the main cause of accidents, followed by violation of the traffic rules and other factors. Most often, people are killed when they fall from heights; the second most common reason is collisions

The construction of the special economic zone known as the Titanium Valley will be funded through buying out the shares of the management company, the Governor of Sverdlovsk Region’s PR Department reports. On August 22, the Federal Financial Markets Service registered the decision to go through with an additional 300m-RUR issue of the Titanium Valley Special Economic Zone’s shares. The shares will be purchased by Sverdlovsk Region Government. This means that, after the regional government’s decree has been issued, the Titanium Valley Special Economic Zone Management Company will get the

Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Corporation presented is most promising vehicles at Russian Defence Expo 2012 in Nizhniy Tagil. The corporation’s exhibits comprised a wide range of various products for the Russian Ministry of Emergencies, the defense industry, and the forestry facilities. Uralvagonzavod launched an outdoor demonstration of vehicles meant for putting out forest fires: the firefighting unit LPA 521 manufactured at the company’s Rubtsov subsidiary and RT-M-160U tractor with an added firefighting device made on the site in Nizhniy Tagil. Visitors to and participants of

On August 17, 2012, the Ural Bank for Reconstruction & Development signed a $5.3m lending agreement wiht the German Commerzbank AG, Frankfurt for a six-year period, the bank’s press service reports. The crediting resources offered are guaranteed by the German export credit agency Euler Hermes and are meant for the purchase of 270 ATMs manufactured by Wincor Nixdorf, the bank’s long-time partner. The agreement means the UBRD is getting more active on the international markets and enjoys great trust among its foreign partners. The UBRD is currently focused on expanding its ATM network in

A business conference called MMK: New Metal Goods Production & Supply Opportunities for Provincial Markets is still under way in Magnitogorsk; the conference is coordinated by Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) and the Russian Union of Metal Goods Suppliers. Over 90 representatives of MMK’s customers and traders that sell the company’s metal goods are taking part in the event. Such conferences have been held in Magnitogorsk for over a decade now. ‘No other Russian metallurgical enterprise has changed as dramatically as MMK over these ten years. Actually, we tried to focus on the

VSMPO-Avisma Corporation was unable to fulfill all the orders its customers had placed in the seven months of 2012, the corporation’s Director-General Mikhail Voyevodin said in an interview to Novator. ‘Our production departments were unable to fulfill all of the customers’ orders. The corporation’s personnel, especially the workers employed at VSMPO, need to pull themselves together and meet the target figures. We are already getting next year’s orders from our customers, and if we finish the year 2012 off with unfulfilled contracts, our prospects of manufacturing 34,000 tons of goods in

Sverdlovsk Region public prosecution authorities took administrative action against Russian Magnesium for violating the labor legislation. The company currently owes 58 of its workers over 1.1m RUR in wage arrears for June and July 2012, the spokesperson for the public prosecution authorities reports. The offenses were detected in the course of an inspection by the prosecution authorities. Following the detected violations, the public prosecutor of Asbest ordered the Director-General of Russian Magnesium Alexei Ginsburg to eliminate the Russian Labor Code violations, and the legal entity

VSMPO-Avisma Corporation does not think it impossible that it might leave the Titanium Valley Project. Even though it was the corporation itself that initiated the launch of this special economic zone, the company might actually start implementing its project outside this zone, using the land allotments belonging to VSMPO, the corporation’s Director-General Mikhail Voyevodin said in an interview to Novator. Now only four residents have registered in Titanium Valley Special Economic Zone so far. The first section of the first stage of the construction has been nearly finished by now. ‘Yet when

Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Corporation’s net profit came to 4.1bn RUR in the first six months of 2012. The company’s staff are trying to set a new production record of 27,000 units of railway vehicles, as the demand for such products is always high thanks to its great quality. The assembly departments meet their foreign contract obligations in due time and fulfill the government defense order as well, in fact, this order is 48% larger this year than a year earlier. The demand for civil goods is also growing, First Deputy Director-General Vladimir Shmakov announced at the

The net profit of X5 Retail Group N.V. in the first half of 2012 came to $135m, which is 20.6% less than in the first half of 2011. The net profit margin came to 1.7%, Retailer.ru refers to the company’s consolidated intermediary financial data for the second quarter of the year as stating; these data were compiled in accordance with the IAS. In the second quarter, X5’s net revenues rose by 9.8% in Russian rubles compared with a year earlier and amounted to 123.6bn RUR, and at the same time decreased by 0.8% in the U.S. dollars and amounted to $3.99bn. Sales grew among the ‘soft discounters’

By August 2012, Sverdlovsk Region’s industrial production index has already exceeded the figures for the seven months of 2011 by 12%, while the volume of shipped industrial goods and services rendered amounted to 787bn RUR. At the same time, about 50% of the industrial turnover falls into the metallurgical goods sector, Sverdlovsk Region Industry & Science Minister Vladislav Pinayev said at a meeting of Sverdlovsk Region Union of Industrialists & Employers’ Industry & Natural Monopolies Interaction Committee. Pinayev feels the region’s industrial development is hindered by the

The industrial production growth rates in Ural Federal District were 0.4% higher in January-June 2012 than in January-June 2011. The growth was mainly due to the processing industries. In January-June 2012, the industrial production index for mineral resources production fell short of the figures for January-June 2011 by 1.5%; that for the processing industries increased by 5.9%, and that for the production of electric power, natural gas, and water, rose by 0.3%. In January-June 2012, the oil production output went up by 22.1% in Tyumen Region. However, as regards Ural Federal District on the

Starting August 22, Ural Airlines will offer a new service for passengers flying to Germany. When booking a plane ticket for a Munich – or a Cologne-bound flight that departs from Russia, passengers can benefit from a free train trip via Deutsche Bahn. To use the service, one has to opt for the rate that includes the train trip when booking the ticket. The itinerary receipt will have a special code called the tix code or the pick-up number: this code has to be entered into one of Deutsche Bahn’s 3,500 Germany-based terminals, and a printed train ticket will come out. The journey can be made

Sinara Pipe Plant (a part of Pipe Metallurgical Company, TMK) held its traditional all-plant professional skills contest among the young ferrous metal production supervisors. Five young women, the winners of the preliminary contest stages at the company’s Technical Supervision Department, joined in the final stage of the contest. The board of jurors comprised heads and experts from Sinara Pipe Plant divisions and the representatives of the company’s trade union. They looked at the supervisors’ knowledge of how the devices and the equipment worked, at their expertise in the field of labor

Uralvagonzavod’s innovative product was given a compliance certificate. Now the multi-purpose vehicle is classed as a commercial product and can be offered to customers. The certification of TMB-2 was quite a success. All the safety, environmental, and labor protection requirements have been met, so now the product is not just a pilot sample but a full-fledged commercial output. The next stage is getting permission from Rostechnadzor, which will mean the vehicle can be used on the Russian territory. The permission will only be granted in the fall. For the time being, TMB-2 will take part in

RID-Expert RA, the consortium of the Russian Directors Institute (RID) and the rating agency Expert RA, affirmed the rating of Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) on the National Corporate Governance Rating scale at 8 (Developed CG Practice). MMK’s corporate governance practice was monitored in July 2011-July 2012. Changes in the practice (a new BOD, an introduction of a new collegial executive body, the Supervisory Board, and some other novelties) did not affect the rating estimate. MMK’s National Corporate Governance Rating has remained the same and was affirmed at 8.

The Federal Antimonopoly Service imposed a 100,000-RUR fine on OOO Severnaya Kazna Insurance Company for unfair competition practices on the car insurance market on August 14, 2012, the agency reports. Now on January 26, 2012, the FAS committee declared that the defendant’s illegitimate use of the ‘50/50’ sign that was virtually indistinguishable from trademarks 368033 and 372059 (which belong to AlfaStrakhovaniye) should be seen as unfair competition. The committee came to this conclusion because such actions violate Article 14 (part 1, paragraph 4) of the Federal Competition Protection Act.